Texting Can Get You In Trouble Too

16-year-old Annie Levitz from Mundelein, Ill., began to sense a little discomfort in her hands. They would feel tingly, numb, or simply hurt like a you-know-what. You’d think she was practicing her free throws for March Madness, but not the case. Levitz had merely been texting her friends up to 100 times a day.

She finally went to the doctor, who diagnosed her with carpal tunnel syndrome. This unfortunate message came with the stipulation that she must wear a brace on each hand and enjoy cortisone injections. She also has to endure surgery. Worse than all of that, of course, is the embarrassment: “It’s painful, first of all. It’s embarrassing wearing the braces, and having people know – it’s not the greatest,” she said.

Levitz has also had to cut down on texting, though she has been unable to go cold-turkey. She’s down from 4,000 texts a month to 2,000. She believes, though, that there might be a cure. Not for the texting, but for the carpal tunnel – an iPhone. “I do think that since it’s touch, it won’t be as rough on my hands,” she said. – So there it is, a new market for the Apple’s greatest invention. The iPhone should unquestionably target carpal tunnel teens, perhaps with the line: “It might numb your mind, but never your hands.”